1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus for mounting a canopy to a boat and more particularly to a canvas mounting boat top frame for adjustably mounting snap fasteners detachably coupled to a boat canvas.
2. Description of the Prior Art and Objects
Boat canopies and mooring covers, which are typically formed of canvas, are detachably coupled to a boat with a plurality of fasteners each including a male fastening member attached to the boat surface and a complementally formed female fastener attached to the boat canopy or mooring cover. As the canvas ages, it shrinks and thus, it is difficult and time consuming to stretch the canvas so that the canvas mounted female fasteners will be properly aligned with the male fasteners mounted on the boat. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide new and novel mechanism for attaching a sheet of fabric, such as a boat cover, to an object, such as a boat.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and novel frame for mounting a cover on a boat.
Yet another object of the present invention to provide apparatus for attaching a cover to a boat including new and novel mechanism for slidably mounting a male snap fastener to a boat for receiving a complementally formed female snap fastener on a boat cover.
Traditionally, a canopy mounting framework includes a plurality of tubes forming the upper frame of the convertible top frame. If desired, the tubes may be articulately coupled together to provide a convertible top. The cover or canopy is draped over, but not attached to the frame and thus, sometimes, due to high winds, the cover can be detached from the boat and boat frame. Accordingly, it is a further object of the present invention to provide new and novel apparatus for securely attaching a canopy to a hollow tubular boat frame from the frame.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a new and novel boat cover mounting frame which will increase the force required to detach the cover.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a boat cover mounting frame which will better insure that the cover remains on the boat and is not inadvertently dislodged.
The U.S. Pat. No. 3,367,349 issued to Maurice H. O'Link on Feb. 6, 1968, discloses an aluminum extruded solid rail formed with grooves for receiving a slide which mounts a female snap fastener. This construction requires the installation of a separate rail and does not facilitate coupling the canvas to the hollow tubular fame work typically associated with many smaller boats. U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,824 issued to Richard S. Floyd on Sep. 6, 1994, similarly discloses a rail which is mounted on the surface of a canoe mounts a slide having a pair of T-shaped bars that clamp a canvas to a pair of complementally formed T-shaped slots provided in an outer rail to sandwich the edge of the cover therebetween. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide new and novel hollow boat cover framework for detachably coupling a boat cover to a hollow frame work mounted on a boat.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and novel hollow tubular frame work on which fastener mounting slides can be slidably mounted for movement to any selected one of a plurality of different positions to receive complementally formed fasteners attached to the boat cover.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,993 issued to Ronald R. Billbury on Jul. 26, 1994, discloses a cover fastening device including a U-shaped slide which surrounds three sides of a square shaped tubing that is fastened to the surface of the boat. This construction is limited in its use and versatility since the U-shaped slide includes inwardly offset terminal ends that extend along a portion of the fourth side of the tubular member and thus, interferes with utilizing multiple sides of the tubular frame for multiple purposes. It is sometimes is desirable to mount curtains, a coat hook or other paraphernalia on the inside of a canopy. With the Billbury construction, the fastening device encompasses three sides and extends into the fourth side of the square and thus restricts the use of the tubing. Accordingly, it is another object of the present invention to provide new and novel hollow, multi sided boat frame which utilizes only one of the sides to mount the cover.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a boat cover mounting frame which will enhance the mounting of various objects from different sides of the framework.
It is another object of the present invention to provide boat canopy mounting apparatus of the type described which will facilitate the mounting of multiple slides on multiple sides of a tubular frame work for mounting the canopy on one side of the tubular frame and another object on an opposite side of the tubular frame work.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new and novel frame for mounting a cover on a boat including a hollow elongate tube having a plurality of angularly related wall panels each having elongate edges and a pair of elongate troughs integrally coupling the elongate edges of one of the panels to the adjacent elongate edges of the two adjacent panels to provide a track for slidably receiving a cover fastener mounting slide.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and novel mechanism for coupling a portion of a convertible boat canopy to a convertible hollow tubular convertible top frame.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and novel frame for mounting a boat cover on a boat including a tubular member having a new and novel cross section.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new and novel frame for mounting a cover on a boat including a track formed in one of the side walls of a hollow tubular member.
Still another object of the present invention to provide a new and novel frame of the type described including a pair of oppositely disposed elongate tracks formed on opposite sides of an elongate tubular frame member.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art as the description thereof proceeds.